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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Technology
Josh Taylor Technology reporter

Smartglasses should automatically blur people’s faces while filming, Australia’s online safety regulator says

Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg wears a pair of Meta Ray-Ban smartglasses
Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg in a pair of the company’s Ray-Ban smartglasses. Australia’s eSafety is urging manufacturers to improve privacy protections around the technology. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Australia’s online safety regulator has urged smartglasses companies to automatically blur people’s faces filmed on the devices, and make it clearer when someone is filming, as the federal government faces pressure to ban the technology.

In advice to industry published on Monday, the office of the eSafety commissioner warned that while smartglasses with cameras, such as Meta’s Ray-Ban, can offer accessibility benefits to low vision or blind people, companies might pit “accessibility benefits against safety and privacy considerations”, and noted there was already a backlash to the technology.

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